Phlox in bloom

The creeping phlox lining the front garden is blooming.  It is usually in bloom in May, so it's a bit early.

Spring!!

This is a prairie smoke plant - newly planted last fall. You can see the pink flow buds forming.  It blooms really early in the spring. 

To do list

Winter:

• Plan for back yard in Realtime Landscaping program
• Plan for plants to add to new garden areas (old cutting garden & area around veggie garden)
• Trim oaks and thin out in northwest corner
• Get bids on patio and retaining wall off of deck

Spring:

• Move maple trees (still 2 to move - arggg!This should have been done already!!)
• Add drainage towards lawn to rain garden/creek bed.
• Move junipers from front and replace with mounding arborvitae (that can be trimmed to a hedge?).  Place junipers near new (planned)retaining wall off of deck.
• Clear plants from the north side of the fence near the vegetable garden and re-work these areas.
• Add planting area and brick edging off retaining wall.
• Replace pink mums in front border with yellow mums (on veggie garden side)

New old garden

I pulled everything out of this garden (see previous postings) and now have it replanted with lots of new things. I kept deer munching prevention in mind, trying to use plants that deer don't like at the borders and in front of plants that deer like. I planted alliums near the tall garden phlox and the lilies.

This garden used to be just one long bed, 36 feet by 6 feet. I made it wider by a foot or so, and also added a leg to one end and moved a young crabapple tree in. That makes it easier to mow, as well as adding more space for planting.

I have put earlier blooming plants in the center, and later blooming plants towards the corners. I grouped like plants together, and am hoping for large blocks of color that can be seen from the deck. I added some rare new peonies - can't wait to see this garden come to life next spring! There is still room for more plants and I want to add some stepping stones in a semi-circle in the center.

Finishing up

I'm calling this area finished. I've got my secondary path to the vegetable garden lined in rocks, added a few boulders (their purpose is not only to look nice, but also to prevent me from cutting through our cable lines.), and planted a few things, with more to be added in the spring. Oh, and this will get mulched in the spring, too!

New peony

My plans were to do some final clean up in the gardens this weekend - but I bought a few more plants, so I guess I will be planting! One of the treasures I found was a Takara itoh peony, which is going to go in the front garden.

Plants from this garden

This is a prairie smoke plant - newly planted last fall. It blooms really early!!